New commenting platform on pjstar.com

Civility is sometimes tested by anonymity.

And that’s the challenge we face every day at PJStar.com. While the majority of our readers are civil when posting comments, some take advantage of their anonymity to say hurtful and vulgar things while hiding behind a screen name. These attacks are concerning to us.

Beginning Friday morning, readers who wish to comment on PJStar.com articles will do so using their Facebook account. Facebook accounts bring context to our commenting platform, linking to the identity of a registered user who might think twice before saying something they might not otherwise say face-to-face. Consider it similar to an Opinion Page letter to the editor, which is verified by our newsroom before being published in our print edition.

It’s our hope that the move to Facebook commenting will raise the level of dialog on PJStar.com and encourage more readers to participate. We will continue to invite debate and contrary opinions – we just encourage that the discussion be respectful.

You should see a dialog box like this one near the bottom of most stories on PJStar.com. If you are not already logged into Facebook, it will prompt you to do so.

Comments, by default, will also publish on the user’s Facebook news feed (you may opt out of this through a simple check box when posting). Replies will be nested with the original comment on top, making it easier to follow a discussion. We will also have the option of “promoting” a comment that we believe adds value.

As is now the practice, these commenting “pool rules” apply:

Keep it clean.

Stay on topic.

Be honest and accurate.

No personal attacks. Don’t bash anyone based on their race, creed, heritage or orientation.

Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in front of your mother at the dinner table.

To report any spam or abuse of these rules, click the “X” in the upper-right corner of the comment box. (Don’t report comments just because you disagree.)

Author: Dennis Anderson

I joined the Journal Star in Peoria, Ill., as executive editor in July 2012 after spending seven years in Lawrence, Kan., as the managing editor of the Journal-World.
This year the Journal Star was named one of Editor & Publisher magazine's 10 Newspapers That Do It Right and the Journal Star received the 2014 top award for General Excellence from the Illinois Associated Press Media Editors. The Journal Star was also named GateHouse Media's Newspaper of the Year.
Before Lawrence, I spent 10 years with Gannett newspapers, including the Norwich Bulletin in Connecticut from 1999 to 2005 and the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin in New York from 1996-1999. I worked at the Daily Herald in Arlington Heights, Ill., from 1990 to 1996, last serving as a bureau chief.
I serve on the Associated Press Media Editors board of directors and am now its treasurer.
While at the Journal-World, the paper won APME's top Digital Storytelling Awards in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
View all posts by Dennis Anderson

I know several people who, like C.J., do not have Facebook accounts but still want to engage in meaningful civil discussions about our community. I do think you should provide them with an alternate option to Facebook so they do not feel shut out of the process and others cannot benefit from their perspectives.

Registration is a fundamental part of both our current commenting platform and Facebook’s – a reader has always been required to create an account. This switch won’t change that, but we do see the move as an opportunity to improve overall discourse (and tone) on pjstar.com and keep “trolls” to a minimum.

While I understand your point about registration, I don’t think you appreciate that not everyone wants to be a user of Facebook. In fact, Facebook is experiencing quite a backlash by users — some of whom are abandoning use of the service. My concern is that your requirement that commentators be Facebook users will limit discourse.

As a longtime Journal Star contributor and also a reader of many newspapers, I’ve watched the evolution of the online comment phenomenon with great interest. I’ve noticed that an increasing number of papers have adopted the Facebook platform in past months. They include not only several smaller Gatehouse papers (the company that also owns the Journal Star), but also a somewhat larger paper up north called the Chicago Tribune.
While I can’t cite any statistics, anyone noting the number of comments that other publications generate under an identified rather than anonymous format would be hard to convince that the Facebook platform has had any very significant dampening effect.
As both a writer and a reader, I see this as a very positive development. For more on why I think that, see my own blog at pjstar.com/blogs/northerncircuit.

Does this mean we finally will see the true identity of Rep Motts, DarkHelmet and the rest of their ilk?
Since about 90% of the commenters are from the looney left, I assume it’s them to whom you are referring who post hurtful and vulgar things. I too do not use Facebook, so good riddance PJStar.com.

You can create a fake account, but Facebook is vigilant about banning them. Meanwhile, we do not get any financial benefit from using Facebook for commenting. This is strictly about improving our commenting.
Dennis Anderson
Executive Editor

Personally, I would never post anything that I wouldn’t put on my FB account anyway. If you can’t say the same things here and in front of your friends and family, you’re using the Dutch Courage provided by anonymity. Good move, this will scourge some of the sour grapes that are on here every day.

I do not ever use my facebook account for anything except to find someone that I cant find any other way. So I will not be commenting any more on your site. People can comment on my blog, http://www.peoriastory.com as usual. I screen comments and will not use those that are inappropriate. You should do the same.

Well good bye to you too. I have no intention of ever using Facebook. I have always avoided insults and name calling as such behavior lends nothing to whatever the discussion may be. Also, as I am an avowed atheist and try clearly to argue my point, the anonymity of the Forum has protected me from reprisals at my place of employment. I work for a large local employer, and if you seriously believe the religious contingent within management would not take their revenge and hobble my career then you are not living in the same world as I am. The openness and willingness of contributors to share their views has now been damaged, and free speech on some subjects curtailed. Then, maybe that is the objective.

Certainly some contributors say hurtful or vulgar things, but does anyone take any real notice of such behavior?
I’m sure the contributors to the Forum who are of a religious turn of mind will be applauding the silencing of their opposition, and will be quite happy not to have to deal with awkward questions. So much for free expression and thought.

Well, well.
Dart finally made a point I can agree with. This rag is indeed stifling free speech with this move. No longer are the masses allowed to comment, just their select few who will succumb to conformity by using Facebook.
I really wonder how they feel about anything contained in the Bill of Rights now. Just because other so-called papers have gone this route doesn’t make it right.

I predict you lose 60 % of PJ online hits in the first month ! I will not come back . The replies are hilarious and you could clean them up on your own if you wanted to . This is just easier and cheaper .This is why in 5 years you probably wont be around . I will most likely cancel my 7 day subscription .

IMO, i dont think enough thought went into this decision. who reads the PJStar and contributes commentary? i am guessing older folks alot more than the younger crowd. i am an older folk and i dont know too many older folks who use facebook. all my friends are professionals, busy with kids, have a life etc., and dont have time for nonsense like facebook. with this decision, the PJStars target market appears to be older people who use facebook? ouch. i think the PJStar is making a huge mistake.

” ABOUT TIME! ” Most of those complaining are some of offenders guilty of the abuses that resulted in this. If this moves offends them, good. Perhaps, the comment section will return to civility instead of the means for bigots and haters to air the evil, while under the cloak of anonimity.

allow me to also say this. i just went over to the WEEK website. WEEK has had this posting/Facebook policy in place for quite some time now. right now a story is running about rolling layoffs at CAT on the PJStar website and the WEEK website. do you know many people have commented on the PJStar website? 8. and how many have commented on the WEEK website? 2. how about the latest pension story? WEEK – 0. PJStar – 3. how about the latest same sex story? WEEK – 4. PJStar – 24. if someone had done their homework, it would have been easy to see that this isnt such a good idea unless losing people is the goal.

I shall bite the bullet and get a facebook page. I will only use it for this type of formats. I’ve looked at facebook pages and read where fools list they are going on vacation, or even out to dinner and then have their phone number and/or address on view for anyone to read. There is a privacy option out there and I suggest for your own protection you all use it.

NEWS 25 switched to this same platform at least 2 years ago. They still receive comments depending on the story. I have never hidden anonymously behind a keyboard like many others here have. This move was bound to happen, although I respect and understand those that aren’t particularly fond of Facebook. Perhaps another comment platform will be found that will be more attractive to the non-Facebook folks.

Mr X and soon to be X-Commenters – the pjstar like facebook are ad driven. I am sure there is financial gain to be made for the paper which has lost readership (at least subscription wise) at an alarming rate since the majority of people use the internet.
If this doesn’t feed their pocketbook they will just prohibit the reading of any aritcles without a digital subscription.
Just my two cents……………………………………

Yeah, not creating a Facebook account again. I got rid of mine for several reasons: security of my information, their willingness (their admission) to share my information with government agencies without my knowledge, use of pictures of PRIVATE accounts for advertisements without permission of the owner, etc.

If PJStar wants to go down that road, more power to them. I can just as easily get my news somewhere that allows commenting and having discussions with people without having to join a social network, especially one that has little regard for the privacy of their users.

Good luck to those willing to create a Facebook account, and congrats for being willing to conform to this crap.

Thank you. A move in the right direction IMO. I expect it to enhance the civility of public discourse via comments, and I hope it will curtail the frequent ad hominem attacks and the pattern of those making comments flying off topic, on some unrelated tangent. Expecting accountability for speech is not curtailing freedom of speech. It is expecting those who comment to behave like adults.

It is my observation that their paper the Pekin Times has very few comments posted. Facebook connection gives the world access to your family, friends and a fair knowledge of your location. Not something most want available to anyone who lands on a public site.

Mr. Anderson – You are obviously a smart man to acheive the position you hold. Before you made this decision (and as you can see by the comments above), I am sure you met with your peers who have done this, and validated what the reader/web site fall-off would be for the thousands who do not use Facebook, or who wish to stay anonymous. So my question is simple… When you shared the inevitable reader/web site fall-off with your advertisers (because of this decision), how did they react? Also, can you share what the negative financial impacts are to both subscription revenues and advertising revenues?

The reason people want to remain anonymous is if you disagree with a kook then two clicks and they have your home address , phone # , job , relative and friends info etc.. Your comments will be less than vanilla . You never know what kind of dangerous person you may be dealing with . BAD MOVE !

As a long time PJS commentor that can be passionate about what I believe (while hopefully not breaking the pool rules) I think this is a good idea. For those concerned about using Facebook. I’ve had Facebook for 5 years now and have not had any issues with it as others have mentioned. I think this move by PJS will definitely make one think twice about posting something inappropriate or over the top. Personally, I think for me this is sort of a matter of maturity as far as discussing an issue. Years ago I used to get into email and forum wars on the internet and would become very emotional and base my arguments less on substance and more towards derogatory comments. After a while I learned to be more substantive in my arguments. I will passionately disagree with someone, but I try to do it in a respectful way. I do still make some stereotypical observations at times, but hey, I’m only human! Now it will be interesting to try to guess who’s PJS screen name is posting the comment. I think some will be very obvious.

Yeah… I am sick of this. first you raise the rates, then you charge to read your CRAP online, and now you take away my lunchtime entertainment! Dang you suck!!! If there was any other competition in this city, you would be gone!!!

This will not be a cure all, but it is a step in the right direction. I have always been disgusted by the multitude of ignorant, thoughtless, and hateful comments that are illicited by any article that has religious or political content. Those comments only serve to identify the writer as a lowlife while seriously detracting from any intelligent discussion of the real issue at hand.

If people can’t offer some intelligent insights into the issue at hand, they need to stop wasting our time. The rest of us aren’t interested in any baseless hatred of Barack Obama, or George Bush, or atheists, or Catholics, or homosexuals, or anything else that is the least bit controversial.

Add baseless hatred of Christians to that list as well, Phil Bayster. We are probably hated the most. To add, ad brings up a good point. Now when we post comments, if a co-worker or boss happens to see the comment, it will be known that not only did we make a comment but the comment will have a approximate time stamp on it. Something to be aware of.

I just put a mans name from above in my search and in 10 seconds I know that he works at Cat , his address, his wife’s name , his son’s name ,his phone # , even his neighbors names and addresses . Not safe !

It is a bad security practice to employ ‘shared’ logins. There have been some recent well documented and well publicized hacking incidents that involved ‘shared’ logins. The safe and secure advice is to have a unique login on every website. You should not be using a Facebook login anywhere but Facebook.

The PJStar’s move encourages bad internet behavior as a solution to bad internet behavior of a different sort.

Why would I want to bother my Facebook friends with my responses to articles they don’t see, from a newspaper to which they don’t subscribe? Soon, I would be edited out of their news feeds, thus defeating the ‘keep in touch’ spirit of Facebook.

I will no longer be reading your online version and don’t receive your paper version anyways. This organization and newspaper are a joke!!! 15 ads on the front page getting in your way, multiple pop-ups on the home page, no comments allowed on crime postings, and now this. I always thought media was a supporter of free speech? Your web site is junk, your policies are a joke, and your organizations and name will soon be a thing of the past. We have all seen the decline of the Journal Star for a while now and you pretty much keep doing it to yourself. It’s almost pleasing, but it would be nice to have a respectable media outlet for the Peoria area. Check out the pantagraph.com sometime if you want to see how it can be done right. I’m sure since you are determined to run the Journal Star into the ground you will overlook this comment and push your biased ideals on us anyways so it doesn’t really matter.

Great news! the StL Post-Dispatch uses Facebook commenting and their comments are always plentiful. And you still get the kooks who are willing to attach their hate and venom to their real name.

This does not disenfranchise anyone. Create a new e-mail address on Gmail, Yahoo, whatever, that you don’t use for anything else, sign up for Facebook with the bare minimum of information provided (ie, don’t put your address, picture, etc), and set your privacy settings to the strictest possible. Then use this account solely for news commenting.

I know of other newspapers who use facebook for comments. Be careful. If you share a like from this newspaper with your friends on facebook, any comments will become public here. My local newspaper allows facebook comments on obits and many of the comments are not appropriate, but then again the commenter has no idea his/her comments are being posted at the newspaper’s web site.

Anonymous commenting is the ONLY reason I’ve been coming to this site for the last 3 or 4 years.

Sadly, I have crazy conservative relatives who would explode if they knew my real opinions on a lot of topics. Plus, Facebook is a MASTER aggregation of all your personal info…I don’t want every comment I make on a website to be tied to my identify for the rest of my life. Hell, there are some Usenet posts I made under my real name in the early 90s that STILL come back to haunt me occasionally, thanks to Google indexing essentially all of Usenet going back to the dawn of time.

Frankly, I never found the comments to be THAT offensive. And the rare actually offensive comment usually got taken down pretty quickly. I’m really surprised at this move….is it financially related? How much did you have to pay Gatehouse Media for their awful forum software plugin?

I’m confused. I didn’t need a Facebook account to type this comment. It’s different than before, but I just had to type in an email address and then submit this comment. Just wondering if you had a change of heart?

This is similar to a blog comment setup now. Just type in a fake email address and you’re back to being anonymous? Which is fine, but doesn’t seem to be what you were getting at? It doesn’t matter to me, whatever you feel you need to do. It’s your publication. Have a good one!

It’s not censorship. You can go set up your own WordPress blog and say anything you want. Free speech does not mean you can use someone else’s press for free … it means you are free to buy your own press if you want ….

Sorry…I’m done. Dont’ have Facebook and never will. It’s been fun at times and irritating at times. If my comments have ever offended anyone then I’m truly sorry. Even when I’m not at work, my job doesn’t allow me to make comments on these sites if my identity is revealed and I’m not willing to censor to the point of being pointless. Awful move, PJS.

By the way to those making comments about being offended. Tough cookies. In order to have Free speech then no one can have the right to not be offended. Back up your side with a solid argument and evidence rather than trying to shut down those who oppose your viewpoints.

I have to say that I will be glad to not see the rude comments as well. I am all about free speech but come on really? Some of the things that people put on here or any other comment area of anything makes me wonder. What makes me crazy is when people ramble and make no sense and have no idea what they are talking about. Such as alot of the comments that are being made about facebook. Facebook is what you the individual make it. If you get sucked into the drama that is on you. You are only going to see post from people that you have chosen to be friends with, so if you don’t like it don’t be their friend. Just because you have a facebook acct. to comment on PJStar doesn’t mean that you have to use it for anything else but that. That choice is yours. Also, I do not read PJStar just to make a comment, I read it to get the news and happenings of the area. If you refuse to read PJStar because you are unable to comment “oh well” I am sure it is not going to affect PJStar at all. Your loss not theirs. Thank you.

I think this is a great move. I understand the reasons people might have for wanting to stay anonymous, though. As for the “Facebook Trap,” meh. Just don’t post stuff you don’t want to be common knowledge. Easy. Hell create one under a pseudonym if you’re that apprehensive.

Gonna miss DarkHelmet though! But if it means losing Shabazz, norton, and some of the other trolls that show up with a new account every other week then maybe it might be a fair trade. 🙂

Resistance to change is to be expected–ANY change.
I have been on Facebook for six years and I don’t get a flood of pornography spams or any other, for that matter.

Facebook is what you make it. No one forces you to be any more visible than you choose to be. I know of people with almost completely private accounts. Information farming has become a norm and the statistics compiled from such farming help pay for a lot of what is available to you for free online. Advertising and subscription make up the remaining costs.

One cannot rationally expect complete anonymity online. Just as with any other product used, it is important to take the time to learn about sites such as Facebook, if you plan to use them. Pop up advertisements are easy enough to get rid of.

Facebook and other social media are not restricted to a certain age group. I have Facebook friends ranging from very young to very old.

A better solution would be to actually moderate the comments to enforce the pool rules – encouraging the quality of commentary, however “time is money” and it’s not suprising that the Journal Star isn’t making an effort in that direction.

I share the editor’s dissapointment with the quality of the commentary – most of the time it’s the same people saying the same stuff, too often insulting, name-calling, superficial.

None-the-less, I got off facebook after my brief casual use turned into a barage of linked this-n-that, uninvited solicitiations, crack-pots and internet surfing. Took more time to figure out ways to try and control what was going on than I thought it was worth.

Certainly don’t see a lot of professional CAT or OSF employees, for example, logging on w/facebook to criticise their employeer.

In my own case, my employer’s spine stiffens when employees express opinions publicly that are different than those held as personal beliefs by our owners – you learn pretty quickly to stay of that radar screen.

I really do believe that the Journal Star could have accomplished the same thing by simply investing some resources in moderating their comment boards, however newspapers are a dying industry, and “cost-cutting” rules the day.

Best wishes to all the folks I’ve “met” on the comments blogs these last few years – Dennis, Dark Helmet, Ad, Shaun, CJ, OftenRunning, Hamilton – all of you – heck, I’ll even wave a fond farwell to Danno/Stomper/Motts.

I have no interest in adding the aggravation of fussing around with a Facebook account to my list of chores.

Good move PJS. I joined this forum over a year ago and have had some great conversations with people, but was surprised at the names I have been called for expression of my political beliefs and my first amendment rights along with the generalizations made as well. Even my own family was subject to an attack at one time. And yes, I admit —I have reacted probably in ways I would not if face to face. So I salute you in doing what is necessary. You dont have the resources to police this forum 24/7 and no one should expect you to. I will continue to read the PJS and I think for a metro area of 375,000 in five counties, you guys do a good job. I enjoy getting my PJS out of the paper box each AM.

Now with Facebook, I think I will pass. Too much information out there — but I hope your experiment is successful.

Good luck to all, even those who I have vehemently disagreed with. May you all enjoy happy and prosperous lives for whatever the future brings.

I read the online PJS one of 2 ways:
1) Using my work PC during down time. Logging in to Facebook on a company computer is not allowed.
2) Using my kindle fire at home – which won’t log in to facebook anymore

Those who are concerned that people can go from a comment on PJStar.com and click a few times to find out their address and phone number obviously have no idea how Facebook works or what privacy settings are.

Why so sudden? Couldn’t you have least given us a week’s notice? I would have liked to say goodbye to some of the people who post to this site who have engaged in thought provoking conversations.

I believe I have played by the pool rules, but unfortunately, there are people out there who can’t. They have ruined the free speech and thought guaranteed by anonymity for everyone.

Whether I agreed with them or not, I will miss not being able to engage in discussions with many of the people who post to this site. So, so long to Rep Motts, DarkHelmet, ad, Dart17, markforida, JimBravo, Shabazz, mtnjak, Hamilton1787, and yes, even Chance15. It was fun while it lasted.

Yeah my work computer blocks Facebook too which a lot of companies are doing now. Man, reading the comments was the best part about these articles! Well, that and picking out all the spelling and grammatical errors in the writing. Maybe Gatehouse can provide a spellchecking program? That would be money well spent!! Luciano won’t have anything to print in his Random Acts of Snideness columns anymore either.

How about as a trade for this move, you discontinue the constant super annoying pop-ups with paying subscriptions? Every day I just can’t get over how continuous and page blocking they are! It’s the absolute worst site I go to for pop-ups. How are the other newspapers making payroll on side ads alone? Ughhhhhhhhh

Respectfully sir, if you think that is true click on any of the Face Book posts. Full privacy settings leave enough information to roughly identify you and a little research would reveal more than you like. Those who think Face Book is private are the ones who need to learn about it and how it works.

btw – a little warning about facebook. my computer is not on facebook, but my kids computer is. my kids spend alot of time on facebook. i think i have good security software on both machines, both machines are the same. my kids computer is always having issues and i have to clean it often. i have heard this more than once about the computers of facebook users. so have your guard up and prepare yourself for that.

i agree with a statement above about how much tamer the comments have been in the last few years compared to years past. granted, some people dont know how to argue without taking things in an offending direction, but i think for the most part, people have been doing just fine. no matter how hard you may try, there will always be one or two thin-skinned commentators with their panties in a bunch.

As Gringo says “why so sudden?” Less than 24 hours notice. No discussion. No attempt to gather voice of the customer, and that is strange for a business wishing to survive in the 21st century.A simple fait accompli.
Nor am I sure that I buy the stated reasons for the change. I would not be surprised if it was found that a darker motive forced this change, or that the PJS had succumbed to pressure from groups wishing to stifle unwelcome opinions. Bear in mind that I am no conspiracy theorist, but this does give me pause to wonder.
Be that as it may, along with Gringo I will miss the exchange of views and many of the people who post on this site. It has been fun, and the insight into the opinions and beliefs of Peorians instructive.

I understand that the PJ Star is wanting people to be respectful and I would think that if there were problems they PJS could trace back to the login and email to notify person of anything that would be unacceptable. I also think that screeners should just delete inappropriate comments and that should be good enough.

There are certain circumstance in which some people need to be anonymous just as some people have chosen to have unlisted phone numbers. People need to be protected from too much vulnerability.

For example if I were an undercover public servant of sorts and wanted to make a comment using my occupational experiences then I really wouldn’t want my true identity to be out there for all to discover. By having a newspaper nickname, I could still respectfully comment but also be protected from opportunists.

It seems to take away the right to privacy if making it MANDATORY to use Facebook in in every public forum. I think I’m out of commenting for now because I think privacy line gets crossed with too much Facebook.

What’s wrong with using the format that you have just used for signing in to this post rather than facebook? I’m assuming that my Email address (since it has my name in it) is protected from public view. I have a handle that only my closest friends (like my wife and daughter) would know.

Since this may be my last post, I would like to make the following comments:

1) One of the fun things about anonymity was trying to figure out the other person: who he/she was; what they looked like, what their agenda was, etc

2) As a former employee in Cat Management, I’m sure that Christopher Glenn, who posted above (Cat Labor Relations Guy), would have loved to know who I was when I was commenting on Cat’s actions with the CAW, and during the Joliet strike. Anonymity gave me a chance to express my views from an insider’s perspective and a moral perspective. Thanks to the people who couldn’t obey the pool rules, that voice will no longer be heard.

3) Finally, I would like to say goodbye to people that I forgot to mention in my earlier post. I will miss all of you:
dpcd
HappyCat
peaceconspiracy
hosed
ShaunC
PEORIA
IAM851Member
union2488
Young Voter
DestrOyer
SayWha
rossimmons, who posted one of the funniest statements I’ve ever seen on this site.

“Never hesitate to send me a note about what stories we need to cover.”

You could cover the sale of WHOI to Sinclair Broadcasting and their FCC requirement to sell WYZZ as a result. You could ask WEEK why they’re not using their subchannel anymore–are they planning to sell that bandwidth in the upcoming FCC reverse auction?

You could bring back the religion page and cover happenings in the houses of faith in Peoria like the Journal Star used to when Mike Miller was the religion page editor. Lots going on there.

You did this at the last minute with no warning. There are articles out there that people may still want to post to, but can’t. Unfortunately, I may have gotten the last word on Jim Bravo’s comments, without his ability to respond. That’s unfair.

bubba jay, your kids’ computer needs cleaning because they are watching porn and downloading music and movies, not because they have Facebook. I have used Facebook since 2004 and have never gotten a virus or any other computer problem because of it.

sorry, rawr, but you are wrong. their computer is next to mine and my kids are not old enough for that. like alot of kids on facebook, they lie about their age to get on. i watch way more porn on my computer than they do and i dont have anywhere near the problems they have. i doubt it is it all facebook, but it is a warning i have heard from others. just sayin.

i have been looking at the stories that have been posted since friday. guess what? NOBODY is posting! brilliant decision PJStar! i think you should run for governor. your decision-making talents would fit in well there.

Help us out. From the postings above, it is obvious that many of the people who post want to remain anonymous.

Is it possible to set up a different email address with one’s provider that doesn’t identify them by name and use this as the address for their Facebook account? Then, set up a handle that only they would know? Then, just use this address and handle for posting to PJStar and other news media?

I would have no problem with people who want to respond to an email address that doesn’t identify me. Or, can Facebook link all of the email addresses that I have and identify me by name?

If I could be confident that I could post in anonymity, without fear of retribution from my employer and various political and religious factions, then maybe I would consider it.

“—You can still launch verbal bombs. But then you leave yourself open to return fire. And that’s only fair.—”

Sorry, but the former platform provided just that! People were able to express their opinions. Sometimes they launched verbal bombs and got substantial return fire!

I loved your advice to the people who want to post anonymously:

“—And this isn’t China. If you live or work somewhere where your opinion is oppressed, then change things. Period. Why live your life under the covers? No relationship or job is worth living like a coward. None.—”

Hey Phil, that’s great advice! What do I tell my wife and kids after I’ve been fired?